‘We are winning that gold’ – Buoyant Omanyala promises Olympic Games glory
By Joel Sang, July 28, 2023Kenya’s sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala has made a grand promise that the country will win gold in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The Commonwealth Games 100m champion has already qualified for the global showpiece and is full of hope that he will deliver the top medal for the country then.
“I’m excited about the Olympic Games next year, I remember in 2021 we really struggled to qualify for the Olympics. We qualified at the last minute. However, this year I’ve already qualified, and I’m really happy about that.
“We are winning that gold, I’ve said that before, and I’ll say it again. I’m really looking forward to that,” Omanyala said in a statement.
Confident Omanyala
The national champion reiterated his stance that he is now a competitor and ready to challenge the big boys in the world.
“Now I’m not coming in as a participant but as a competitor. I’m not going in as someone who is going to fill in the lanes,” he added.
The 27-year-old sprinter had to sweat to qualify for his debut appearance in the Olympic Games, and he has recalled the difficulties and how the Tokyo Games catapulted him to glory.
“I can remember that the Olympics gave me a very big platform. It made me who I am today. Because of my results there, I got the chance to attend my first Diamond League Meeting in Brussels.
“I got invited to different events in 2021, and that spearheaded my career as far as my performance is concerned,” he continued.
At the 2022 Games, he finished third at the penultimate stage, which means he could not feature in the final.
Tipped for glory
Omanyala’s grand promise comes after Michael Johnson, a former World 100m and 200m record holder, said that the Kenyan short-distance sensation would soon win a gold medal in the 100m race at the World Athletics Championship.
“Said it before. I believe Omanyala will be the first African to win a 100m World Championship medal. His muscular structure provides tremendous power, but do any coaches or sport science experts out there think it could become a limiting factor in his ability to sprint efficiently?” Johnson, who retired after winning four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship gold medals, said in a statement.
Faith Kipyegon, Mary Moraa, Omanyala, Beatrice Chebet, and Julius Yego are the top stars that will lead Team Kenya in the August Budapest World Athletics Championship. Hopes are high for them to deliver in the competition and replicate the same at the Olympic Games set to be held in France.
Should Omanyala lift gold in Budapest, he will become the first African to do so in the 100m race.